Leveraging Carbon Services for Habitat Conservation:
NOAA’s Blue Carbon Interests
Ariana Sutton-Grier, Roger Griffis & Meredith Muth
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
Our Changing Carbon Cycle……
Blue Carbon (oceans)
Green Carbon (terrestrial biota)
Black Carbon (human emissions) Coastal
Blue Carbon
Coastal habitats: Salt marshes Mangroves Sea Grasses
Key Issues
Considering and valuing these carbon services increase coastal habitat conservation.
3 www.noaa.gov
Coastal habitats at risk
Lots of stored carbon
Blue Carbon Win-Win
www.noaa.gov
What is lacking
Lacking mechanisms to account for ecosystem services
Need methods to value the ecosystem services of these habitats
www.noaa.gov
Coastal Blue Carbon Opportunities for Conservation: Two Pathways
Address Policy Needs:
• Identification of policies that could address coastal carbon
•Procedures for how to incorporate C services into activities
Address Market Policy Needs:
•Protocols for GHG accounting
•Carbon market protocols
GOAL: Enhanced
Conservation of Coastal Habitats •salt marsh •seagrass •mangroves
Improve ability to incorporate carbon services in programs and policies (e.g. mitigation projects, NEPA)
Additional resources through carbon markets for protection and restoration
Address Science Needs:
•Better estimates of C storage, sequestration, and emissions •Areal extent of habitats and which
are most threatened •Better understanding of carbon
released when habitats are disturbed, or stored in restoration
Top pathway in blue is NOT dependent on carbon markets.
Bottom pathway IS dependent on carbon markets.
What’s NOAA Doing?
NOAA-wide blue carbon team
Report
Work Plan: Science and Policy opportunities
Newly formed blue carbon interagency group to enhance coordination and communication across the federal family
www.noaa.gov
Work Plan Goals
Goal 1: Improve understanding and tools for assessing carbon services of coastal habitats.
Goal 2: Incorporate carbon services as part of NOAA’s and other Federal agencies’ policies and practices concerning coastal habitats.
Goal 3: Increase awareness and consideration of coastal habitat carbon services within international policies and programs.
www.noaa.gov
Work Plan Actions will:
Raise awareness
Conserve more habitat
Help mitigate and adapt to climate change
Support market-based incentives for conservation
www.noaa.gov
What’s NOAA Doing: Science Example
Science NERRS Waquoit Bay Study funded in
FY11 to examine carbon emissions from the site Help develop protocol for including wetland
carbon in carbon markets
See Alison Leschen’s talk in the next session
www.noaa.gov
What’s NOAA Doing: Policy NEPA
National Environmental Policy Act
Includes a mandate to consider impacts on coastal habitats and ecosystem services in planning federal actions
Carbon sequestration not been explicitly included to date
www.noaa.gov
Policy: Principles and Guidelines
Revised Principles and Guidelines (P&G) for Federal Water Projects
P&G being revised to include ecosystem services
Carbon services not currently specified but could be
www.noaa.gov
Other Policy Opportunities
Coastal Zone Management Act (CZMA) activities
CZMA programs could consider including carbon storage research and carbon sequestration in their program activities where appropriate
Clean Water Act (CWA)
Requires compensatory mitigation for unavoidable impacts
Impacts to carbon stores not currently considered
Loss of carbon and storage functions could be part of functional and conditional assessments of impacts and could be mitigated
www.noaa.gov
Other Policy Opportunities
Natural Resource Damage Assessment (NRDA)
Ecosystem services affected are bundled in the NRDA process
Explicit consideration for carbon sequestration would be complex process, but possible
www.noaa.gov
Blue Carbon and NOAA Priorities
www.noaa.gov
What’s NOAA Doing: International Examples
16 www.noaa.gov
Take Home Messages
17 www.noaa.gov
Potential double win for climate and conservation: valuing carbon services of habitats
Remaining Work: Science, and Domestic and International Policy
NOAA is working to support all these efforts
Questions? [email protected]
For more information see: http://www.habitat.noaa.gov/coastalbluecarbon.html
What’s NOAA Doing: Specific Examples
Carbon Markets
NMFS Office of Habitat Conservation funded Restore America’s Estuaries in FY11 to do a study of “additionality” to support the development of carbon market protocols for wetland carbon
www.noaa.gov